Country music from a fan's point of view since 2008
Since American folk and country music, particularly that of the of the Appalachian region, had its roots in the English and Irish folk traditions, it seems only fair that the American product crossed back over the Atlantic Ocean to the home of its forbears.
The age of recorded music dates back over a century but it appears that the cross-pollination of English pop music with American Country music began in earnest in 1952 when Slim Whitman, a smooth-voiced American country singer with a wide vocal range and outstanding ability as a yodeler released “Indian Love Call” as a single. The song reached #2 on the US country charts but also got to #9 on the US pop charts and #7 on the British pop charts. Then in 1954, “Rose Marie” topped the British pop charts. While Whitman would have only one more top ten British hit, his recordings continued to chart occasionally through 1957, and received some airplay thereafter. The BBC played Slim’s 1968 single “Livin’ On Lovin’ (And Lovin’ Livin’ with You)” with some frequency.
Although no longer a pop singles charts factor, Slim’s albums would continue to sell well with the last charting album falling off the British album charts in 1978. Red River Valley charted at #1 in 1977 and Home On The Range reached #2. Slim would tour the UK and Europe for the next several decades.
Because of his highly individual style, perhaps Slim isn’t a good exemplar; however, a few years later the heavily country-influenced rockabilly artists such as Elvis Presley, Gene Vincent Craddock, Carl Perkins and Eddie Cochran began making their presence felt. Initially the presence was to be found in the work of skiffle artists such as Lonnie Donegan and the Vipers. Skiffle was an amalgam of American blues, folk and country, and would fuel the early English rock ‘n roll movement. One American act, Johnny Duncan and the Bluegrass Boys, also would thrive as skiffle artists.
While the skiffle artists were not, per se, country artists (and like rockabilly, the movement was short-lived), Nashville songwriters were beginning to have success in England with country songs, even if not necessarily performed as country music. During the 1960s artists such as Max Bygraves, Val Doonican, Ken Dodd, Des O’Connor, Englebert Humperdinck and a dynamic singer from Wales, Tom Jones, were having huge success with American Country songs.
One of the first English groups to actually feature American style country music was the Hillsiders. Signed to RCA, they found their way to Nashville to record an album with country great Bobby Bare. The album The English Countryside reached #29 on the US country album charts and spawned the single “Find Out What’s Happening” that went to #15 on the US country chart and reached #5 on the Canadian country chart. While neither the album nor the single charted in England, the album reputedly sold decently and the single received some airplay. While there were no further chart hits, the Hillsiders remained an integral part of the English country scene through the mid-1990s.
Thanks to a pair of BBC radio programs, Country Meets Folk (hosted by Wally Whyton) and Country Style (hosted initially by David Allan and later by Pat Campbell), there were weekly shows that featured country music. Country Meets Folk was a live program that was about 50-50 folk and country whereas Country Style mostly featured recorded music with an occasional live performance by a local act. Through Country Style, I became familiar with such entertaining acts as Tex Withers, Roger Knowles, Nick Strutt, Brian Golbey, Pete Stanley and a host of Irish acts such as Larry Cunningham, Big Tom & The Mainliners, Dermot O’Brien and Joe Dolan. I should mention that Irish Country music often came in the form of an Irish Showband, with the music sometimes resembling that of modern day American polka star Jimmy Sturr.
The First International Festival of County Music at Empire Pool – Wembley, was organized by Mervyn Conn and took place on April 5, 1969 and featured a number of prominent American country artists such as Conway Twitty, Bill Anderson and Loretta Lynn (my father and I both attended) and also showcased a number of fine English and Irish country acts as follows: Phil Brady & The Ranchers, Larry Cunningham and the Mighty Avons, The Hillsiders, and Orange Blossom Sound (a fine bluegrass group).
The Second International Festival of Country Music was held March 28, 1970, and my father and I again were both in attendance, to see the Roy Acuff, Tompall & The Glaser Brothers and Lynn Anderson, along with other American acts and the English acts Orange Blossom Sound, The Hillsiders, and Country Fever.
These festivals continued through 1991 and gave such fine English and Irish acts as Brian Coll, Lee Conway, Ray Lyman & The Hillbillies, Patsy Powel and The Honky Tonk Playboys, The Jonny Young Four and Frank Yoncho exposure.
Meanwhile Lucky Records was formed to provide an outlet for local artists. One of my most treasured albums was by acoustic country artist Brian Golbey titled The Old & The New Brian Golbey.
At about the same time The Nashville Room opened in Kensington, which featured music by local country acts with an occasional Nashville star such a Hank Locklin dropping in.
I moved away from England in 1971 and lost track of the English and Irish country music scenes. In the days before the internet it was difficult to keep up with what was going on across the sea.
Nice ‘n’ Easy was released in October 1980, in response to significant demand for an album that collected the earlier Johnny Duncan recordings that prominently featured Janie Fricke, whether or not Janie was actually credited on the original recordings. It also served as a true duets album.
The album actually falls neatly into two categories: (1) new recordings made in order to have enough tracks to complete an album and give customers who already had the earlier tracks a reason to purchase this album, and (2) the earlier hit singles. The new recordings are on side one of the album, with the older tracks being on side two.
Billy Sherrill was the producer of the album. While albums of this era often did not provide musician credits, the album cover notes tell us that on side one the background singers were Lea Jane Berinati, Jackie Cusic, Larry Keith and Steve Pippin whereas on side two the Nashville Edition provided the background harmonies.
Side one opens with “He’s Out of My Life”, a song written by Tom Bahler. Pop artist Michael Jackson recorded the song on his 1979 album Off The Wall and released it as a top ten pop single. The original title was “She’s Out of My Life”, retitled for duet purposes with Duncan and Fricke swapping verses but most of the song told from the male perspective. I think it is a bit of an overwrought ballad (Bahler wrote it after breaking up with his girl friend) but it works. The song was a #20 country hit for Johnny & Janie in 1980.
He’s out of my life
He’s out of my lifeAnd I don’t know whether to laugh or cry
I don’t know whether to live or die
And it cuts like a knife
He’s out of my lifeIt’s out of my hands
It’s out of my handsTo think the two years he was here
And I took him for granted, I was so cavalier
Now the way that it stands
He’s out of my hands
Track two is the title cut “Nice ‘n’ Easy” written by Alan Bergman, Marilyn Keith and Lew Spence. The song is best known for Frank Sinatra’s 1960 recording. The Sinatra album Nice ‘n’ Easy was nominated for a Grammy in 1960 and Frank took the title track onto the pop charts that year. Charlie Rich had a minor pop hit with it in 1964, and in later years country radio sometimes played the track (or a later 1970 Epic re-recording of it). It would be blasphemy to suggest that any of the covers were better than Sinatra’s recording (they weren’t) although Rich’s recording was nearly as good.
Let’s take it nice and easy
It’s gonna be so easy
For us to fall in loveHey baby what’s your hurry
Relax and don’t you worry
We’re gonna fall in loveWe’re on the road to romance – that’s safe to say
But let’s make all the stops along the wayThe problem now of course is
To simply hold your horses
To rush would be a crime
‘Cause nice and easy does it every time.
Paul Anka is often thought of as a late50s-early 60s teen idol, but he was much more than that, providing a number of classic songs to other artists such as “My Way” to Frank Sinatra and “Guess It Doesn’t Matter Anymore” to Buddy Holly. “(I Believe) There’s Nothing Stronger Than Our Love” is a song that Paul kept this song for himself, recording it as a solo (#15 pop / #3 AC) in 1975 and later as a duet with Odia Coates. It works fine as a duet.
I believe there is nothing stronger than our love
I believe there is nothing stronger than our love
When I’m with you Baby
All my worries disappearTroubles that surround me
Disappear when you are near
When you need my loving
I’ll be there
“Baby (You’ve Got What It Takes)” is a 1960 song written by Clyde Otis, Murray Stein and Brook Benton. It was originally recorded as a duet by Dinah Washington and Brook Benton, and reached #5 pop / #1 R&B. Later recordings include Jerry Lee Lewis & Linda Gail Lewis, Charlie Louvin & Melba Montgomery, Michael Buble (with Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings) and Kevin Mahogany. Obviously it works as a duet, and it works for Duncan and Fricke, although they do not bring the soulfulness to the song that Dinah & Brook achieved, nor the excitement of the Jerry Lee & Linda Gail recording. By the way, if you are unfamiliar with Brook Benton and/or Dinah Washington, you really should check them out.
“Loving Arms” was written by Tom Jans and is a ballad of longing and loneliness that has been recorded many times, initially by Dobie Gray, then Elvis and many times since then including the great Etta James and acts such as the Dixie Chicks. To my knowledge no one has ever had a big hit with the song.
If you could see me now
The one who said that he’d rather roam
The one who said he’d rather be alone
If you could only see me nowIf I could hold you now
Just for a moment if I could really make you mine
Just for a while turn back the hands of time
If I could only hold you nowI’ve been too long in the wind, too long in the rain
Taking any comfort that I can
Looking back and longing for the freedom of my chains
And lying in your loving arms again
This concludes side one of the album. You will note that none of these songs were initially country songs, although all were songs of a good pedigree. By 1980, for better or worse, the ‘Nashville Sound’ era had passed and none of the songs featured string arrangements. The production could best be described as pop-country with steel guitar used mostly as background shading.
Side two collects the Johnny Duncan hits that featured Janie Fricke. Since these songs have already been discussed earlier I will simply touch them lightly.
“Come A Little Bit Closer” was a cover of a Jay & The Americans hit that Johnny and Janie took to #4 in 1977. This song was billed to both of them.
“It Couldn’t Have Been Any Better” went to #1 for Johnny in 1977, his second #1. The string arrangements on this recording are by Bill McElhiney.
“Atlanta Georgia Stray” was not released as a single for Johnny Duncan. It appears on Johnny’s 1977 album Johnny Duncan.
The song was recorded by Kenny Price for RCA in 1969 and made the country charts. I was living in England in 1969, but when I returned to the USA in 1970, I recall the song receiving some airplay as an oldie. I really liked Kenny’s version, but Fricke and Duncan do a reasonable job with the song. Bergan White does the string arrangements
On the Greyhound bus trip home I was feelin’ all alone
When a long haired gal sat down next to me
She said she was Atlanta bound, kill some time, maybe kick around
Cause it sounded like a friendly place to beFrom Chicago to Kentucky we just talked awhile
And somewhere in between I was captured by her smile
But why I left the bus in Nashville has been a mystery till today
Cause for two years I’ve been tracking down that Atlanta Georgia stray
“Thinkin’of A Rendezvous” was Johnny’s first #1 county hit in 1976. Bergan White did the string arrangements.
“Stranger”,also from 1976, was Johnny’s second top ten hit reaching #4 country.
I do not mean to downplay Janie Fricke’s contributions to the songs on side two, but they were released as Johnny Duncan records and Janie’s role was less prominent on some of them than on some of the others.
In retrospect, most of our readers will think that the success of these recordings was due to Janie Fricke, since Johnny Duncan dropped out of the music scene for family reasons during the 1980s and then died too young in 2006. He had a significant career and some big hits that did not feature Janie Fricke, including several of my favorites.
Janie, of course, went on to have a brilliant career and is still active today
This album has never been released on CD. The hit singles are available on several Johnny Duncan CDs and possibly some various artist collections. As best as I can tell, the tracks from side one are not available anywhere.
Johnny Duncan and Janie Fricke were both very polished performers and I think most listeners would find the tracks on side one very interesting indeed. This is a well produced album that I would give a B+
After nearly a decade as a background singer, and singer of television jingles, Janie Fricke finally emerged with her first ever album, released in May 1978. At the time Janie was six months past her 30th birthday, a rather late start for becoming a solo singer. This is not to say that Janie was an unknown quantity in Nashville, as she had sung background for many of Nashville’s elite such as Dolly Parton, Barbara Mandrell, Crystal Gayle, Ronnie Milsap, Lynn Anderson and Conway Twitty.
Ultimately, it was her work on several of Johnny Duncan’s hits “Jo and the Cowboy,” “Thinkin’ of a Rendezvous,” “It Couldn’t Have Been Any Better,” and “Stranger” that brought her talents to the forefront. Whereas she had not been given label credit on the earlier hits, Janie was given equal billing with Duncan on his recording of “Come a Little Bit Closer”.
While Singer of Songs is a bit generic and doesn’t give Janie much chance to show off her vocal prowess, it was a decent initial effort and did produce three decent singles.
The album opens with “I Loved You All The Way”, a bland easy listening ballad with full Nashville Sound treatment. This is followed by “We Could Have Been The Closest Of Friends”, another bland ballad, albeit with a bit more muscular vocal by Fricke.
This is followed by “You Changed My Life in A Moment”, a song I can envision the Carpenters singing – in other words yet another string-laden ballad.
The nights the sky was filled with clouds
My worried mind was filled with fears
I couldn’t count all the lonely hours
Spent with memories and tearsI never thought I would see the day
When I could throw all my sorrow away
But then you came and you showed me the way
You have made all those times disappearYou changed my life in a moment
And I’ll never be the same again
You changed my life in a moment
And it’s hard for me to understand
With a touch of your hand
In a moment of time
All my sorrow is gone
The fourth track “No One’s Ever Gonna Love You”, while not very country, at least has some grit to it and finds Janie giving a forceful R&B vocal that gives a hint as to the power behind her voice.
Track five (aka the last track on the A side of the vinyl release) is “I Believe In You” a nice easy listening ballad that is not the same song as the Don Williams hit.
Track six was the first track on Side Two of the vinyl album, Janie’s cover of Hank Locklin’s huge hit “Please Help Me I’m Falling”. Janie takes the song at a slower tempo than the original but acquits herself well. This is the first song on the album that I would actually describe as Country music, and it is the only track to feature steel guitar. This was the third single from the album and reached #12 – the Canadian country charts had it reach #4.
The first single, “What Are You Doing Tonight” reached #21 and got to #14 on the Canadian country charts. This is a nice pop county song written by Bob McDill.
Maybe I’m saying too much
After all, I just met you
But I’ve got to say just what I feel
I hope it won’t upset youI think you’re the one I’ve been dreaming of
With a little time we might fall in loveSo what’re you doing tonight
What’re you doing tonight
The wind is warm and the stars are bright
What’re you doing tonight
“Week-End Friend” was released by Con Hunley as a single reaching #13. Both Janie and Con gave this song a soulful R&B treatment which effectively showcased the song. This is the only track on the album to feature trumpet and sax.
Friday night don’t come soon enough
When I’ve been waitin’ all week for love
6:05 the train will arrive
He’ll be coming inI’ve got a week-end friend
I’ve got a week-end friendHe’ll have that special look upon his face
And if it ain’t rainin’ we’ll go to my place
And when we close the door the feeling will pour
All over us againI’ve got a week-end friend
I’ve got a week-end friend
Track nine is “Baby It’s You” was the second single, reaching #21 (and #19 in Canada). It’s a mid-tempo ballad, again with more of an R&B feel than country. This is not the same song that the Shirells, the Carpenters and Jody Miller took onto the charts.
The album closes with another Bob McDill song, “I Think I’m Falling In Love”. On this track Janie’s vocals give strong evidence as to what her vocals would sound like on future albums.
This is a very tentative album for a singer is struggling to find her voice and her muse. In my opinion tracks 6-10 are much stronger that tracks 1-5 in that the producers took more chances with the arrangements and material and smothered her less with string arrangements. I would give this album a C+ based on the strength of tracks 6-10.
Like many other country music stars, Janie Fricke grew up singing in school and church from an early age, but unlike most of her peers, she never planned on becoming a star. Instead, the South Whitley, Indiana native was pursuing a career in education. While studying at Indiana University, she landed a gig singing advertising jingles (most notably for Red Lobster), which sparked her interest in a music career. She moved to Nashville in 1975 and became a highly sought-after background vocalist, lending her voice to recordings by many of the era’s biggest names, including Conway Twitty, Ronnie Milsap, Tanya Tucker, Barbara Mandrell, and Crystal Gayle.
It was Fricke’s work with Johnny Duncan, however, which set her on the path for her own solo career. An uncredited line on his 1977 hit “Stranger” led to audiences wondering who the female mystery singer was. As a result, Billy Sherrill offered her a recording contract and signed her to Columbia. Much of her early work was in the highly-produced pop country style that dominated during the late 70s, but she also showed a knack for interpreting more traditional material. Her first two singles “What’re You Doing Tonight” and “Baby It’s You” both just missed the Top 20, but her cover of Hank Lockin’s “Please Help Me I’m Falling (In Love With You)” almost cracked the Top 10, landing at #12 in 1978.
Janie continued to enjoy moderate chart success through the end of the 1970s, finally cracking the Top 10 in 1980 with “Down To My Last Broken Heart”, which topped out at #2. Her follow-up single, a cover of Ray Price’s hit “Pride”, reached #12 and “I’ll Need Someone To Hold Me (When I Cry)” reached #4. From then on, Janie was consistent Top 10 hit maker, including seven #1 hits and became one of the most popular female artists of the 1980s, earning Female Vocalist of the Year trophies from the CMA in 1982 and 1983. Her success began to taper off around 1986 when the shift to more traditional sounds began to dominate on country radio. Her last Columbia album Labor of Love, was released in 1989.
After leaving Columbia, Janie continued to record for a variety of smaller, independent labels and was also a regular on The Statler Brothers’ TNN variety show in the early 1990s. Her most recent album is a 2012 re-release of a 2004 collection of her 80s hits remade with bluegrass arrangements. She records infrequently these days although she continues to tour. Our spotlight will focus on her most successful 80s output and we hope you will enjoy the trip down memory lane.
Charley Pride released his seventeenth album, Sweet Country, via RCA Victor in 1973. It was helmed, as per usual, by Jack Clement.
The album spawned two singles, both of which topped the charts. The honest, “A Shoulder To Cry On,” a ballad about a man taking advantage of a friend’s emotional support, was lovingly written by Merle Haggard (he recorded his own version, on It’s Not Love (But It’s Not Bad) a year earlier). “Don’t Fight the Feelings of Love,” written by John Schweers, is an excellent country shuffle.
No less than three of the album’s ten tracks were penned by Ben Peters, who had given Pride his career hit (“Kiss an Angel Good Mornin’”) just two years earlier. “The Happiest Song on the Jukebox,” a bright traditional tune, is both a study in familiarity and contrast. This is Pride’s signature style, yet the lyric contradicts everything we’ve come to know about jukebox songs. Trading sad songs for happy ones isn’t something you hear every day. Peters also contributed “Just To Be Loved By You,” a pleasant string-laced ballad and “Tennessee Girl,” a mid-tempo ode to the woman and lifestyle left behind in hopes of greener pastures that never materialized.
Don Williams is responsible for “The Shelter of Your Eyes,” which he recorded the following year on his Volume One album. Pride does a surprisingly decent job with the dobro accented ballad, especially since he and Williams don’t have similar styles at all (in all fairness, no one captures the mellow conversational tone Williams brought to his music).
“I’m Learning to Love Her,” written by Johnny Duncan, is as honest and forthright a love song as I’ve ever heard. The protagonist is talking with his old love about his new flame, admitting that he’s simply “learning to love her in time.” George Strait knows “You Can’t Make A Heart Love Somebody,” but with a little patience, Duncan and Pride believe it’s possible to come around.
“Along the Mississippi,” an ode to happy memories along the titular river, is an engaging and ear-catching mid-tempo number. “Love Unending” is a sonically adventurous love song, with a man making promises to the woman he hopes will confess her love to him. “Pass Me By” is a piano and steel drenched ballad in which a guy wants something more, but if the woman can’t give it to him, he hopes she’ll just leave him alone.
Of the three albums I reviewed this month, Sweet Country shows the most progression in Pride’s development as an artist. The Nashville Sound era trappings are gone, due to the changing tides in mainstream country, and the music itself is less cheesy. This is the style of Pride’s music I prefer and thus Sweet Country is indeed excellent.
Grade: A
Released in December 1972, Songs of Love By Charley Pride was Charley’s 13th studio album and his least successful album since 1967. The album did reach #1 on Billboard’s Country Album chart, but only reach #149 on Billboard’s all-genres album chart. As usual Jack Clement was the producer.
For whatever reason, the songs on this album and the arrangements seemed mostly derivative of Charley’s prior efforts. Make no mistake about it, this is a solid country album, with fiddle and guitar throughout; however, the overall production has a little more of an easy listening feel to it.
The opening track is “Too Weak To Let Go”, a mid-tempo ballad that is pleasant enough but not really worthy of consideration as a single. The song is about an affair that the narrator feels that he should end but really can’t bring himself to do.
I was on the rebound from a broken love affair
When I first caught a glimpse of her in you
And though you never measured up to what she meant to me
I couldn’t find the words to tell you soCause I’m not strong enough to leave you and too weak to let you go
You give me precious love to hold on to
But somehow deep inside I’ve got a feeling that you know
I’m not strong enough to leave you and too weak to let you go
The only single on the album was the Johnny Duncan composition “She’s Too Good To Be True”, a solid country song with fiddle and steel tandem work on the introduction and thereafter. The song spent three weeks at #1 and is what love should be about.
Sometimes late at night I wake up dreaming
I reach and feel for her she’s too good to be true
Then I touch the sleeping softness of my angel
And half asleep she turns to whisper I love youCause she’s just too good to be true but she is
And in my arms she reassures me with a kiss
She’s everything I ever looked for in a woman
She’s just too good to be true but she is
Ben Peters, who supplied Charley with “Kiss An Angel Good Morning” and “It’s Gonna Take A Little Bit Longer”, also provided Charley with “She’s That Kind”, another positive love song. Some of the instrumental accompaniment harkens back to “It’s Gonna Take A Little Bit Longer”.
She can take the morning rain falling on my window pane
And turn it into sunshine in my mind
And she can take the darkest night and brighten it with a love sweet light
And I’m satisfied just knowing she’s that kindAnd I can feel so down and out but she knows what it’s all about
And she can help me leave it all behind
There’s someting in the way she smiles that seems to brighten all my trials
It’s good to know my woman is that kind[Chorus]
She’s that kind that I’m thankful to the Lord above
For sending me that kind of woman for me to love
If I could live another life and I could choose another wife
I wouldn’t change a thing cause she’s that kind
“You Were All The Good In Me” is a slow ballad about what the narrator lost when he lost his woman. The melody reminds me of “All I Have To Offer You (Is Me)”.
“Give A Lonely Heart A Home” has an upbeat arrangement that that seems overly familiar. It’s a nice song, a mid-tempo ballad, although the vocal chorus seems a bit obtrusive.
Well, just look close and you might find the saddest heart in town is mine
And should we give true love a try our hearts just might see eye to eye
So if you’re looking for a way to do your good deed for today
The one thing you could do and not go wrong is give a lonely heart a home
So just give a lonely heart a home…
If I need to give the history of “Good-Hearted Woman”, that means that you must have dropped in from another planet. Charley does a nice job with the song, but if released as a single by him, I suspect it would not have been a chart topper. Nice fiddle and piano on the chorus are the standout features on this recording.
“Love You More In Memory” is a chugging ballad about a lost love.
I heard “My Love Is Deep, My Love Is Wide” with some frequency on the radio, leading me to wonder if RCA considered releasing this upbeat Ben Peters song as a single. I think it would have made an excellent single.
My love is deep, my love is wide
You can’t see across to the other side
My love is deep my love is wide
I’ve got too much love for you for me too hard to hide
People say I’m not the man they used to know
Something made a change come over me
And when I feel such happiness I guess it’s gotta show
Cause I’m a happy man, that’s plain to see
Cause baby my love is deep…
Johnny Duncan’s “(Darlin’ Think of Me) Every Now and Then” is a really nice ballad that someone should have issued as a single. Duncan’s career as a performer would not hit high gear until 1976, but this song might have accelerated the process for him.
The album closes with “I’m Building Bridges”, a slow ballad about the protagonist’s efforts to win back his lost love:
I’ve been working every day since you’ve been gone
Mending the road that our love once traveled on
And I’ll have you back when I am through
Cause I’m building bridges that will take me back to you
Back in the day I would eagerly purchase every new Merle Haggard, Buck Owens and Charley Pride albums as they were release, with other artists being purchased if I had any money left over. While I liked this album, it wasn’t as satisfactory as Charley’s previous albums and thereafter I skipped over some of Charley’s albums, either waiting his hits collections to be issued, or waiting until a used or cut-out copy could be obtained.
I’d give this album a B+
A Sunshiny Day With Charley Pride was released in 1972, and produced as usual by Cowboy Jack Clement. The album’s sole single, sitting on top of the country charts for three weeks in the summer of 1972, was the Ben Peters song, ‘It’s Gonna Take A Little Bit Longer’, set to a jaunty medium tempo, it proclaims the narrator’s enduring love despite his lady’s departure. It’s a highly likeable recording with a Cajun flavor, which still stands up very well today. Peters also contributed the title track, a suitably sunny tune about happiness which is pleasant to listen to but a little bland lyrically.
‘She’s Helping Me Get Over You’ is a classic country song, written by A L “Doodle” Owens and Hal Bynum about finding a new love and getting past an older, stronger but toxic one which still has a pull on him. This is my favorite song on the album. The same pair wrote ‘One More Year’, a powerful plea from a husband to his wife to last through some more hard times:
Sweetheart, I know I’ve never made one dream come true for you
If you’ll just walk through one more storm our sunshine may appear
But if we wake up tomorrow and you don’t see a rainbow
Sweetheart, why can’t we try it one more year?
Texan rockabilly artist Al Urban provided a couple of fine ballads. ‘When The Trains Come In’ is an excellent ballad about loneliness with a haunting whistle and harmonica accompaniment. Even better is the steel led ‘You’re Wanting Me To Stop Loving You’, a gentle but firm reproach to the wife who is leaving him.
Johnny Duncan’s ‘Nothin’ Left But Leavin’’ is another highlight, an excellent song with echoes of a more bitter version of the classic ‘My Elusive Dreams’:
Tonight it’s so cold, the rain is fallin’
But it’s still not as cold as your love for me
That’s why I’m walking down this highway
And a diesel going my way
Will take me far from you and you’ll be freeThere was nothin’ left but leavin’ for us in Tulsa
But then again the same was true out in LA
Seems like trouble always finds us
So I broke the tie that binds us
There was nothin’ left but leavin’ anywayWe tried to find our dreams in New Mexico
But the answers just weren’t there in Santa Fe
And we could blame it all on Texas
But the problem now with us is
We never had what we thought anywayThere was nothin’ left but leavin’ any longer
And I finally found the strength to walk away
Tell the kids their daddy loves them
They’ll understand I’m thinkin’ of them
‘Put Back Your Ring On My Hand’, written by Glenn Ash, is another excellent track, a regretful song in which the protagonist is desperate for a second chance. Also good is the melodic ‘Seven Years With A Wonderful Woman’, a wedding anniversary paean optimistically hoping for another 70 years together. (Charley had actually been married to wife Rozene since 1956 and they are still happily married, so this one was clearly heartfelt.) It was written by the Reverend Roland W Davisand is set to a hymnlike tune.
‘Back To The Country Roads’, written by Richard Jarvis, is quite nice, but the most disposable track on the record.
Charley is in excellent voice throughout, and Jack Clement knew how to keep the Nashville Sound relatively restrained. This is a strong album which is worth hearing, and can be found now on one of those excellent value multiple-album CDs we have mentioned before.
Grade: A-
In many respects, Charley Pride was the George Strait of his day: a consistent hit maker who frequently hit #1, whose music rarely offered surprises but never disappointed his fans. 1971’s I’m Just Me was no exception. It reached #1 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart and also produced two number one singles: “I’d Rather Love You” and the title track. The former spent three weeks at the top of the chart and was written by Johnny Duncan. It finds Pride speculating about how things might have turned out had he never met the live his life. The title track, written by Glen Martin, is a catchy, feel-good fiddle and steel number that is as unpretentious as the title suggests. It has a slight Bakersfield feel to it, despite the occasional chiming in by the Nashville Sound-style vocal chorus. In between these two singles, RCA released “Did You Think to Pray” from Pride’s gospel album, which broke his string of consecutive #1s.
In addition to “I’d Rather Love You”, Johnny Duncan contributed two other numbers. “(In My World) You Don’t Belong”, about a married man who struggles to come to terms with his infidelity. It includes a subtle string arrangement which is a bit of a departure for a Pride recording. “Instant Loneliness” is more traditional. I’m not sure why it wasn’t released a single; perhaps Duncan wanted to release the song himself, though he does not appear to have done so.
Unlike many albums of the era, I’m Just Me doesn’t rely too heavily on covers of recent hits by other artists. The one exception is a very nice rendition of “Hello Darlin'” which rivals Conway Twitty’s original version. The entire album is a solid effort, though it is slightly more heavily produced than Charley’s previous work. Thankfully these old albums are finally being re-released so they can be heard by fans of traditional country who are too young to remember when they were first released. I’m Just Me is available on an import collection with three other early Charley Pride albums.
Grade: A
1957 (Sales): Gone — Ferlin Husky (Capitol)
1957 (Jukebox): Gone — Ferlin Husky (Capitol)
1957 (Disc Jockeys): Gone — Ferlin Husky (Capitol)
1967: Lonely Again — Eddy Arnold (RCA)
1977: It Couldn’t Have Been Any Better — Johnny Duncan (Columbia)
1987: Kids of the Baby Boom — The Bellamy Brothers (MCA/Curb)
1997: Rumor Has It — Clay Walker (Giant)
2007: Wasted — Carrie Underwood (Arista)
2017: Body Like a Back Road — Sam Hunt (MCA)
2017 (Airplay): Road Less Traveled — Lauren Alaina (Mercury/Interscope)
1956 (Sales):Singing the Blues — Marty Robbins (Columbia)
1956 (Jukebox): Singing the Blues — Marty Robbins (Columbia)
1956 (Disc Jockeys): Singing the Blues — Marty Robbins (Columbia)
1966: Somebody Like Me — Eddy Arnold (RCA)
1976: Thinkin’ of a Rendezvous — Johnny Duncan (Columbia)
1986: Hell and High Water — T. Graham Brown (Capitol)
1996: Little Bitty — Alan Jackson (Arista)
2006: My Wish — Rascal Flatts (Lyric Street)
2016: Blue Ain’t Your Color — Keith Urban (Capitol)
2016 (Airplay): May We All — Florida Georgia Line featuring Tim McGraw (Republic Nashville)
Jim Ed Brown has had three separate and distinct recording careers within country music. The first career ran from 1952 to ’54 and found him paired initially with sister Maxine and later with sisters Maxine and Bonnie (1955-67). After the Browns disbanded (Bonnie and Maxine left to raise families), he had a successful career as a solo artist for the next eight years (1967-74). Then, after his solo career as a hit-maker ground to a halt, he took on a third wind with a series of successful duet recordings with Helen Cornelius.
Born in 1934, in Sparkman, Arkansas, Jim Ed Brown was one of five children (two boys and three girls) of a struggling lumberman and his wife. Like many rural families his family would gather on Saturday nights to listen to the Grand Ole Opry on a battery powered radio. Brown and his older sister, Maxine, were especially interested in what they heard on the radio and soon began singing together. Within a few years they were performing on local radio shows.
Career #1
By Brown’s second year of college, he and Maxine were regulars on the Barnyard Frolic on KRLA in Little Rock. In 1954, they wrote their first hit song “Looking Back To See” which charted at #8 for the duo. A cover version by Justin Tubb and Goldie Hill also charted, reaching # 4.
Released on the Faber label in 1954, “Looking Back To See” provided the duo with momentum, leading to membership on the Louisiana Hayride. From there they joined Red Foley as featured regulars on the Ozark Jubilee in 1955. Toward the end of 1955, younger sister Bonnie joined the act and they scored their second top ten record with “Here Today and Gone Tomorrow.” With encouragement from their former Faber label mate Jim Reeves, RCA signed the group in 1956, and two Cashbox #1s followed with “I Take the Chance” and “I Heard the Bluebird Sing” (both fell just short of #1 on Billboard). In 1957, Jim Ed was invited to join Uncle Sam for a two year stretch in the US Army. By the time he returned in 1959, RCA had become immersed in the ‘Nashville Sound’ and the label pointed the group toward the pop charts, succeeding in a big way with “The Three Bells” which was #1 for ten weeks and spent four weeks at #1 on the pop charts and sold millions of copies. This was followed by “Scarlet Ribbons” (#7 country/#13 pop) and “The Old Lamplighter” (#20 country / #5 pop). In 1962, the trio joined the Grand Ole Opry.
Unfortunately, the focus on the pop charts cost the group their core country audience, and they would have no further top 10 country hits. Meanwhile the pop audiences moved elsewhere as the ‘British Invasion’ changed the pop landscape. Read more of this post
Danny Wayland Seals was born in Texas in 1948 as a member of a very musical family. His father was not a professional musician, but had performed with Bob Wills and Ernest Tubb. Elder brother Jim was a member of successful soft rock duo Seals & Crofts, who were big stars in the 1970s. Cousins included country star Johnny Duncan and songwriter Troy Seals, and a generation later, another cousin, Brady Seals was to become lead singer of the successful group Little Texas. Young Dan grew up exposed to both the country music his father loved, but as a teenager was influenced strongly by the music of the Beatles, which led to the nickname (and later stage name) ‘England Dan’.
The young Dan followed in his brother’s footsteps by teaming up with a high school classmate to form the duo England Dan and John Ford Coley. They released a number of albums together, with their greatest success coming with the single ‘I’d Really Love To see You Tonight’, a mellow ballad which topped the Adult Contemporary chart and reached #2 pop. Reba McEntire covered the song in 1978, as a B-side to one of her early singles, an early indicator of Dan’s potential as a country artist (although he did not write the song).
Going solo in 1980 was not an immediate success, and Dan lost his home and most of the money he had made as a pop star in a battle with the IRS over unpaid back taxes. It was then that he moved sideways into country music, signing to Capitol Records in 1983, and working with producer Kyle Lehning. His style retained many elements of his pop past, with an emphasis on gentle ballads, but either his own inclinations or Lehning’s meant that his music was generally less heavily produced than his pop-country contemporaries, and he maintained his success well into the period when the neotraditional movement was sweeping away the worst excesses of the 80s. Dan released some excellent singles through the 1980s, and was rewarded with a run of 16 successive top 10 country hits, including a particularly hot streak with nine straight #1s.
His career slowed down markedly in the 1990s. A move to Warner Brothers failed to reignite it, but he reinvented himself artistically by recording acoustic takes on some of his big hits, and continued to work touring. He died prematurely of cancer on March 25, 2009. In his last years he had been making music with his brother Jim, but a planned album was never completed.
We plan to cover the highlights of the career of a man whose crossover from pop to country respected the genre, and who created some timeless music.
An updated version of an article originally published by The 9513:
David Rogers (1936-1993) is proof of the adage that it’s great to be on a major label, but only if the label is truly behind you.
Born in Atlanta, Georgia, during the depths of the Great Depression, Rogers began playing guitar when he was eleven, and shortly thereafter began appearing in local bands. He successfully auditioned for Roger Miller in 1956, but was drafted before getting the opportunity to join Miller’s band.
In 1962, after Rogers’ was discharged from the service, he landed a regular gig at the Egyptian Ballroom–a gig which lasted several years. While performing there he recorded a demo tape which eventually came to the attention of Frank Jones at Columbia, and a recording contract was not far behind.
During the late 1960s and early 1970s Columbia was home to a great many country artists, including Johnny Cash, Marty Robbins, Ray Price, Carl Smith, Stonewall Jackson, Lefty Frizzell, Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs, Carl Butler & Pearl, Lynn Anderson, Jimmy Dickens, Johnny Duncan, Barbara Fairchild and a host of other minor artists. The label also controlled significant back catalogs on artists such as Ted Daffan, Gene Autry, Bill Monroe and Bob Wills.
With that array of artists (which doesn’t even count those on sister label Epic), there simply wasn’t much promotional oomph left for the likes of an aging bar-band singer, and so the recording of Roger’s albums was left to independent producer Pete Drake.
Drake, a great steel player famous for his “talking” steel guitar, used the “Country Cocktail” production style of Billy Sherrill and Glenn Sutton on Rogers’ records. Background vocals and symphonic strings were heavy, but because of Drake’s personal instrumental specialty, steel guitar played a far more prominent role than in the typical Sherrill or Sutton production.
Rogers’ first single, “Forgiven Fruit,” was release in 1967, but failed to chart. The next single, “I’d Be Your Fool Again,” checked in at #69, and the one after that, “I’m In Love With My Wife,” (bundled with “Tessie’s Bar Mystery”) finally cracked the top 40. Progress was slow but steady. In 1969, “A World Called You” hit #23. Meanwhile, Rogers made his debut on the Grand Ole Opry and started appearing regularly on the WWVA (Wheeling, WV) Big Jamboree, where I first heard him many Saturday nights on the radio.
Rogers’ breakthrough hit was 1970′s “I Wake Up In Heaven”, which peaked at #19 on the Cashbox Country Chart (Billboard had it at #26). The song was very strong in selected regional markets, hitting #1 in places like Orlando, FL, and Norfolk VA. The follow-up single, “She Don’t Make Me Cry” (#19 Billboard / #4 Cashbox) continued the upward momentum, and “Ruby You’re Warm” held place (#21 Billboard / #13 Cashbox).
According to Billboard, the next single, 1972′s “Need You,” was Rogers’biggest hit, reaching #9 (it went to #5 on Cashbox and, again, hit #1 in many markets). (“Need You” was a remake of the 1958 Donnie Owens pop hit and is, in fact, my favorite David Rogers recording.)
After that peak, Columbia apparently lost interest in Rogers as his next two singles barely cracked the top 40 on either Billboard or Cashbox. By 1973, Rogers was off Columbia and had signed with Atlantic Records, hardly a power in the world of country music, though the label was trying to penetrate the country market as they signed Willie Nelson at this time.
Atlantic actually had more success with Rogers than with Nelson –- Rogers achieved one top ten single with the late 1973 single “Loving You Has Changed My Life,” which peaked at #9 on both Billboard and Cashbox in January 1974.
Both Nelson and Rogers were gone from Atlantic by the end of 1974. Nelson, of course, went on to bigger and better things, but Rogers would slowly fade from the public eye. After recording one album for United Artists, he moved on to a series of minor labels including Republic, Kari, Music Master and Hal Kat, where he charted singles until 1984, with only 1979′s “Darling” cracking the top twenty.
Recordings
Unfortunately, to the best of my knowledge, none of David Rogers’ albums have ever been issued on CD, so you’ll need to do vinyl hunting (there may be some digital download available).
The three Columbia albums (A World Called You, She Don’t Make Me Cry and Need You) are quite good, especially the latter two. The Atlantic albums, which were again produced by Pete Drake, are also worthwhile, though they differ from the Columbia albums in that most of the “Country Cocktail” trappings were abandoned.
My favorite album from the Atlantic years is Farewell To The Ryman, issued in 1973 to commemorate the Opry’s move to Opryland. The track-list is a cornucopia of classic country songs: “Blue Moon of Kentucky,” “Great Speckled Bird,” “I’m Movin’ On,” “I Can’t Help It,” “Walking The Floor Over You,” “Send Me The Pillow That You Dream On,” “Rollin’ In My Sweet Baby’s Arms,” “Release Me,” “Mexican Joe,” “Wondering,”, “I Walk The Line,” and “Satisfied Mind.”
Aside from the Republic records, Music Master issued one Rogers album titled The Best of David Rogers, a two record set comprised of 11 re-makes of his Columbia and Atlantic hits and nine new songs written by Harold Shields. The new songs aren’t bad; two of them–”Hold Me” and “Crown Prince of the Barroom”–charted, and the remakes are decent, finding Rogers in good voice.
In addition to the albums David Rogers charted 37 of the 45 rpm singles plus there are an untold number of uncharted singles. Used record stores may carry some of these records but the best place to look is http://www.musicstack.com
Happy hunting!
My Kind of Country 